Are Office Politics Prompting This 3rd Interview?

Mike-After a face-to-face interview with the hiring manager, I've been invited back for a third interview tomorrow.

I've been told that tomorrow's interview will be a video conference with 2 people online, and one other person in the room with me.

Because my position will sit in an office remote from my potential boss, she wants to ensure that the people who see me on a day-to-day basis see a "fit" and can work with me. I've been in panel interviews before, but I'm not sure about the video camera.

What else should I be concerned about?

I've read your prep material on your site, but I'm still nervous about this interview.

Mike's comments:

Hello Pat-

Congrats on making it this deep into the job interview process. The fact that your third interview will be in a video format instead of a face-to-face setting tells me they've pretty much made up their minds to hire you.

If there were still lingering doubts about you, they would have gone through the trouble and expense of having you actually meet these people.

It sounds like you interview well and you're prepared. You already know what kind of questions to expect, so I doubt they will throw you a curve ball tomorrow.

Go in there tomorrow as if this were the first interview. Be yourself, but don't assume the job is yours. You'll get a good feeling early in the interview if you click with everyone.

I think you'll do fine.

Sidebar: Sometimes a third interview is scheduled because of office politics. Let's say you impressed top management early in the process and word got out that you were all but hired. A key employee--who usually is part of the interview process--may have felt slighted. So, to appease this employee, they scheduled this video interview to get their buy in.

Also, an internal candidate may have wanted this position, but was passed over. So, if they add another layer of depth to your interview, the internal candidate won't feel totally rejected because after all..."it was a tough decision, but you were a perfect fit."

These two scenarios could be wrong in your case, but there is no way for us to find this out.

Special Tip: A good interviewing technique is to treat employees who will be at your same rank as a manager. Respond to them like you are subordinate to them. In other words, you don't want them to feel threatened by you. If they like your personality and feel a little superior to you, they likely will give you the thumbs up.

Another visitor to my site asked me a similar question to yours. It might be helpful for you to read these added insights: Why a Third Job Interview?

Hope this helps. Good luck tomorrow. Let me know how it turns out.

Mike Petras

P.S. If you, or someone you care about, has been unemployed for 6 months...or longer...my new book could provide you the breakthrough you've been praying for. Click on this link to read the introductory chapter and the table of contents. : Why Don't They Call Me?-Job Search Wisdom to Get you Unstuck.